Cervantes Tops Day 1c as Thunder Valley Main Event Reaches 547 Entries
Big pots, a bubble bustout and a turbo side flight shaped the final stretch at RGPS Passport Thunder Valley.
Michael Cervantes finished Day 1c with the biggest stack in the RunGood Poker Series Passport Season Finale $1,200 Million Dollar Main Event at Thunder Valley Casino Resort, as Day 1c drew 333 entries and sent 33 players on to Day 2.
According to PokerNews’s live coverage, the flight later hit a break at Level 16 with 52 players still in action, then closed in hand-for-hand play with 43 remaining for 42 money spots. The turbo side event added 40 entries and four more bags, bringing the main-event total to 547 entries with 58 players still in the hunt for an RGPS title and ring.
Cervantes ended with 1,012,000 chips. Jay Kasler was right behind him with 1,008,000, and Jiechao Gao finished third in the flight with 900,000. Cervantes had been third in chips by Level 16 before pulling ahead late.
The live updates were full of big pots. Paul Brown’s A♣A♥ held against Arthur Tanimoto’s A♠K♣ after a K♠3♦4♦ flop, a 2♦ turn and a 6♥ river, and Brown earned the double-up.
Charles Himes then flopped a set with A♠A♣ against David Miller’s K♦K♠. The 9♦ locked up the pot for Himes, and the J♦ river completed the double. Christopher Rudd also stayed alive in a three-way all-in when his QxQx turned into a straight on an ace river against Bret Wagar’s kings and Charles Capobianco’s aces.
The late stages kept trimming the field. Steven Gnatovich turned a full house with nines to beat Robert Small’s A♠5♦, Richard Spears’ jacks sent Rudolph Sisson’s fives out, and Gene Davenport knocked out Wenmian Hua with pocket eights. Dehao Qi’s eights also beat Thu Tran’s threes in a set-over-set pot, then Alex Garcia spiked a river straight in the next three-way all-in to send Tran out.
Jason Mayer doubled through Pat Lyons, Miguel Beteta Rodrigo’s aces left Lester Lenart with 12,000, and Brandon Feria became the bubble bustout when Quan Liang Gao’s ace-queen paired the flop. Day 1c’s final stretch was decided by a string of all-ins and showdowns.
